Saturday, March 28, 2009

Thy Mercy

Music has been on my mind since my last post on the Tabernacle Choir and also since I sang in Church last Sunday. Despite some great EFY music, Latter-day Saints aren't really known for their contemporary Christian music. I'm not a fan of "Christian music" when I get the sense that it's more about the performance rather than Christ. Having said that, I'd like to spotlight one of my favorite contemporary "Christian" songs--Thy Mercy--by a group called Caedmon's Call. The lyrics are from an old hymn, and remind me of Alma 34: 15-18; 38. Alone they are great, but set to this music they fill my soul with praise:

Thy mercy my God is the theme of my song,The joy of my heart, and the boast of my tongue.Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last,Hath won my affection and bound my soul fast.

Without Thy sweet mercy, I could not live here.Sin would reduce me to utter despair,But through Thy free goodness, my spirit's revived And He that first made me still keeps me alive.

Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart,Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart.Dissolved by Thy goodness, I fall to the groundAnd weep for the praise of the mercy I've found.

(Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah...)

Great Father of mercies, Thy goodness I ownIn the covenant love of Thy crucified Son.All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine Seals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine.All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divineSeals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine.

15 And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance.

16 And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption.

17 Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you;

18 Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save.

38 ...humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.

The Essence Of Our Faith

"The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it."